Sky Sports pundit Neville was harshly critical of Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko after the game, even suggesting that coach Mikel Arteta should consider putting him on the bench to avoid burdening the team. Against Liverpool, Zinchenko was criticised for his mistake against Salah. His lapses in defence allowed the Liverpool winger to score without difficulty, and his performance throughout the game was nothing short of a disaster.
The left flank, which was in charge of the defence, became the Reds' main attack, with Salah barely being blocked in his defensive zone. At the start of the second half, Zinchenko made two low-level mistakes as Liverpool tried to press high up, one of which allowed the ball to go straight to Salah's feet, but fortunately the latter failed to get the ball to Gakpo's feet.
Despite this, Neville still highlighted Zinchenko's mistakes, believing that Zinchenko should be on the bench and had a premonition of the "Christmas curse" that Arsenal were about to face. Neville's prediction was also endorsed by Arsenal fans, who harshly criticized Zinchenko and even considered him a weakness of the team. Fans were disappointed with Zinchenko's performance, believing that he was not up to the role of defender in important matches.
Under the team's official social networking**, fans believe that he is not suitable for playing as a defender at all, and the damage he has done to the backline is devastating. He also pointed out that apart from our left, our right side was very reliable, while Zinchenko and Martinelli were terrible. As for the game itself, it ended 1-1, meaning Arsenal will be at the top of the Premier League table for Christmas for the second season in a row.
However, it is alarming that Arsenal are also one of the teams in the history of the Premier League to win the Christmas title but ultimately fail to win the Premier League.